The Official Blog of the Gwinnett Braves, Triple-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Yankees Looking for Season Sweep vs G-Braves

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees took their third game in a row from the Gwinnett Braves, winning 4-3 on Sunday at Coolray Field. Corban Joseph’s ninth inning solo home run off Andy Russell gave the Yankees the lead for good as they improved to 7-0 against Gwinnett in 2012.

For the third time in three games, the Yankees scored the first run of the ballgame in their first at-bat. Chris Dickerson led off the game with a single against left-hander Yohan Flande, then stole second base and came around to score on a Kevin Russo RBI single.

Gwinnett finally answered back in the seventh inning as Ernesto Mejia led off the inning with a single. Following a two-out Ruben Gotay single, Jose Yepez came through with a clutch two-run double down the right field line, cutting the G-Braves deficit to 3-2. Yepez finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs, raising his batting average to .272 on the season.

The G-Braves tied the game 3-3 in the eighth when Jose Constanza began the rally with a leadoff single, then advanced to third base on an errant pickoff throw by left-hander Justin Thomas. The same at-bat, speedster Luis Durango singled up the middle for his 36th RBI of the season. Durango would later steal his second base of the game, raising his International League leading total to 35 on the season.

Walks to Mejia and Stefan Gartrell loaded the bases as Gwinnett threatened to take their first lead of the night in the eighth, but Ryota Igarashi struck out Josh Wilson and Gotay swinging to end the threat. Scranton wasted little time recapturing the lead in the ninth as Joseph capped his big night with a two-out solo home run to right field. With the game-winning blast, Joseph finished 2-for-5 with a team-high two RBIs.

Russell (L, 0-1) gave up the winning run on one hit over 1.0 inning of work.

Photo courtesy of Karl Moore

Monday, July 23rd G-Braves Starting Line-up from Coolray Field:

The Gwinnett Braves (46-57) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (57-45) play their series and season finale on Monday night at Coolray Field, first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM. The G-Braves will have right-hander Eric Junge (5-8, 4.62) on the mound, while the Yankees counter with left-hander Mike O’Connor (2-3, 3.39). Listen to the broadcast on WDUN 550 AM and 102.9 FM in Gainesville, GA with Tony Schiavone calling the play-by-play.

Scranton Yankees (2nd IL North) vs Gwinnett (3rd IL South)

All kids 12 and under will receive a voucher for a free hot dog, bag of chips and a small soda on Kids Eat Free Monday. Tickets for all Gwinnett Braves home games are on sale now at the Coolray Field Box Office. Call (678) 277-0340 or visit gwinnettbraves.com for more information.

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